Michaels to miss rest of season with broken left hand

Astros right fielder Jason Michaels broke his left hand making a diving catch in Tuesday’s victory over the Phillies and will miss the remainder of the season.

Michaels, 35, is scheduled for surgery today to repair a displaced fracture of the fourth left metacarpal bone. He batted .199 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 156 at-bats.

Rookie J.B. Shuck replaced Michaels and went 3-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Manager Brad Mills doesn’t foresee a need to add another outfielder to the active roster.
“I think we can make do,” Mills said. “ We’ll mix them around or whatever, but I think we’ll be OK.”

Feels like the first time

Astros outfielder Jason Bourgeois loves the feel of September. It reminds him of his first brush with the major leagues.

Bourgeois was visiting a friend in September 2008, having batted .286 and stolen 30 bases for Class AAA Charlotte.

“For four days, I had my feet up,” Bourgeois said.

Watching the highlights one night, Bourgeois saw that White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin had gone down to injury. The next day, Bourgeois got the call to the majors.

“I only had three at-bats, but it was pretty cool,” Bourgeois said.

Except for a couple of medical rehabilitation stints in the minor leagues, Bourgeois has spent all of this season in the majors. After going 2-5 in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the Phillies, he is batting .302 with 27 stolen bases in 222 at-bats. He also turns 30 before the start of next season, so he’s trying to leave a strong final impression with manager Brad Mills and the front office.

“Mentally, I try to make it feel like it’s the playoffs,” Bourgeois said. “Try to finish strong, even though we’re not in the playoffs. Baseball is mental. I try to put myself in the mental mode of it being the last game of the playoffs.”

Bourgeois has been especially effective against lefthanders, upping his average against them to .389 (37-for-95) by going 2-for-3 against Phillies starter Cole Hamels on Tuesday. The biggest quibble Mills has had with Bourgeois’ season has been the lack of durability.

“He has had a nice year,” Mills said. “Putting those injuries aside, here’s a guy who has got the ability, the attitude, the work ethic. That’s going to take him a long way.”

No smooth switch

Righthander Jordan Lyles admittedly is struggling “a little bit” in making the September transition from starter to reliever. The Astros have put Lyles, 20, in the bullpen to limit his workload at such a young age.

Because the Astros still see Lyles as a starter, the value of September isn’t in getting him acclimated to working out of the bullpen. It’s making some adjustments to his delivery with the goal of making him more effective as a starter. Because Lyles is pitching infrequently, he’s been getting in side sessions with pitching coach Doug Brocail.

The main point of emphasis, Lyles said, is going away from the drive-and-drop approach — exemplified by Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan — to pitch from a taller position that creates more angle and leverage.

“We just feel like everything could be a little more consistent, a little better, a little better angle with each pitch,” said Lyles, who had a 5.02 ERA in 15 starts. “That’s what we’re trying to fix and be ready for next year.”

Early spring training

With 16 rookies on his active roster, manager Brad Mills considers September to be a head start on spring training. Mills said he likes the chance to begin correcting players this season, instead of waiting for 2012. He also sees more competition for jobs than in the previous two seasons.

“When we go into spring training, these guys can look around and say, ‘Hey, this isn’t my job; we have some other guys here who can take this job and do a pretty good job,’ ” Mills said.

“That competition is going to be big. When you have that, it’s going to make us better.”

Mills said he’ll go to the Astros’ fall instructional league the Monday after the season ends and observe for three or four days. Among the players who were at last year’s instructional league were third baseman Jimmy Paredes and second baseman Jose Altuve.

“Those guys who are instructional league see now that they’re not that far away,” Mills said.

“A lot of times when you’re in the minor leagues, you think the major leagues are a long way away and it’s going to take forever to get there. These guys see, whether you’re a pitcher or a position player, how quickly you can get here.”